Shadow of the Future
by Leapingspirit
Summary: DISCONTINUED TEMPORARILY! summary inside. r&r. no flames. you may recognize the town that i used for Shadow's home.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow of the Future 

Summary: Set 3000 years after the end of The Kitsune's Eye and the Final Battle with Shadow and Walkingdeath, you will be taken along Shadow's footsteps as he meets the reincarnations of Naruto and the others. Got my inspiration from the comic 'Here's to the Future' from deviantart, so all rights and quotes go to the owner of that.

I own nothing 'cept the OCs

Warning: Minor to major spoilers for the Kitsune's Eye because I have yet to finish it. And I took my town in Texas and made Shadow and the others live in the town bordering it, so if you recognize it, let me know. And Naruto and the others are 6 when they first meet Shadow so bear with me.

"speak" _'thought' flashback "animal speak" _(------) perspective change or time skip

Ch. 1

It's been three-thousand years since the final battle with Walkingdeath, but to Shadow, it seems like longer. He's been living a peaceful life in a town called Port Neches for that long, watching it develop and grow, thinking about what things might have been like if he had not defeated Walkingdeath. He had to admit, watching these huge buildings being built, and watching cars zoom past as he walked the streets of Port Neches in his human form was quite entertaining. But, he couldn't help but feel something was missing...

(---Shadow's POV---)

Is it me, or have the last three-thousand years been really, really... boring!! Ahck, ever since Kyuubi became leader of the Kitsune Clan, Cyrus and Rai moved back home, and Sapphire continues to shun me, I've had nothing to do. Naruto, Hinata, Atsuko, and Sasuke being half-demons had passed on about a thousand years ago, and the others _way _before that.

With them gone, I've had no one to keep me company. Going on a rampage would only result in me getting sent to a zoo, or worse, become some guinea fox in some lab in Phoenix. I don't care what Shikamaru used to say, you can only look at the clouds for so long before you get bored. And my current job as a state trooper just isn't cutting it. Arresting people and using a hand gun is great!... but not entertaining to my standards, especially when you've lived as long as I have.

(---Normal POV---)

He rolled over from his perch on some random roof in the small suburb, yawning. Shadow—being the fox he is—was very unamused by the petty lives that the humans of the future tried to live. He liked life a lot better when he could go on assassination missions and run through the forest with out a care in the world. Problem was, ninjas were lost to the world, and the forest that used to surround the town had been cut down so that the humans could build 'power plants,' 'cell phone towers,' and 'skyscrapers.'

Of course, those skyscrapers were about a three hour drive north-west from here so there was some good that came out of living in a suburb. And it was a nice suburb; peaceful, semi-quiet, and not very many exciting things happened. And that in its own part added to Shadow's boredom.

(---Shadow's POV---)

My name is Aka Kagemaru Kiba Kitsune (red shadow circle fang fox demon), but everyone calls me Shadow for short. Some of you may know me from legends, history classes, or fiction. Very few know me personally, such as family, and Sapphire. And you know what? I HATE BEING IMMORTAL!!! You live a never ending life, never age past twenty, and get very bored when your friends are no longer around.

Sometimes I'll go to Houston—the huge city three hours north-west from here—to climb the buildings and keep my chakra control in check. That in turn always gives all the civilians a stroke, but what do I care? It's something to do right... heheh, right?! Beaumont is fine too, there's a forest that belongs to a refinery there that I can spar in, and Port Author has some nice restaurants too... anyway!!

Every now and then I wish that I would have stayed in hell all those years ago. It would save me the insane boredom that I'm experiencing now. Either that or stop time in one way or another! That way, Naruto and the others would still be around. Unfortunately, neither of those happened. Though, I suppose that I was expecting to die again before this... and like I am for everything else... I was wrong! ARRGG!!! Someone shoot me in the eye!

(---Normal POV---)

The black haired fox demon felt something vibrating against his leg, and reached into his blue jean pocket and pulled out his cell phone—one of those Razor ones, black of course—and flipped it open.

"Yo. Aka Kagemaru here."

"Hey Shadow! We need you to head down to the office for a second. Minoru (truth) need to ask you something."

"Then why didn't _he_ call?" he asked in an irritated voice. Minoru had a very... unbecoming and irritating habit of making Shadow trek all the way down to the DPS office in Jefferson county just to tell him something completely stupid and pointless.

"Dunno, he doesn't tell me anything." Riku (land) replied. Shadow could practicly hear the smirk he was wearing. Sighing heavily, he snapped the phone closed, stuffed it back in his pocket and leaped down from the roof with a kind of grace that only shinobi, demons or both could posses... and scaring Ousha, a fluffy black tom cat that hung around that particular house.

Setting off at a brisk pace, the fox demon walked back to his trooper car that he had parked in the parking lot of a plumbing company at the end of the street couple of hours ago. _'Easy transportation... ain't it wonderful?' _he thought sarcastically.

Slamming the door shut, he started the motor and pulled out of the parking lot, turning right and stopping before pulling out onto the highway—or Magnolia Ave. as some called it—heading to the office.

(---Shadow POV---)

I don't even know why I took the job. Oh yeah, I remember...

_Flashback..._

_"Come on! Its not like you'll have to kill anyone!" exclaimed Riku. He had been trying to get Shadow to go with him to the DPS academy with him for the past hour._

_"That's not what I'm worried about! In fact, I have no problem what so ever with killing. I just don't want to have to sit in a hot patrol car for hours on end pulling over drunks and speeders!" the fox demon managed to grit out. Riku was getting on his nerves._

_"Come on, please! I'll be so lonely with out your company! Please!"_

_"NO!!" that's when the pouting started. Groaning, Shadow rolled his eyes and scowled. "That's not going to work." Riku's pout deepened. "Stop it!" and deepened. "I said stop!" and, deepened... "Fine! I'll go with you, but you owe me big time." he snapped snatching the form out of the brunette's hands that would allow him to enroll in the DPS academy. _

_Riku looked a lot like what Shadow remembered Iruka to look like, as far as hair color and deep tan. Dark brown hair, cropped short, green eyes, and a child like personality. On top of that, he was a pain in the ass. Big. Time. Worse than Genma had been, and that's bad. Only Kami knew where he got the idea in his head that Shadow would enjoy being a DPS trooper._

_End Flashback..._

Yeah, that's right, he used the pout on me. I really need to build up resistance to that damn thing. Either that or kill Riku.

(---Normal POV---)

Pulling into the parking lot, Shadow sighed as he got out of the black and white patrol car, slamming the door behind him. Minoru was waiting for him at the door to the office, a smirk present on his face.

"This had better be important if you value your life." Shadow growled, his red eyes narrowing. Minoru grinned, and stepped aside to allow the fox demon to brush past him.

"There's a kid here that says he knows you." he replied, following his black haired counterpart. "I'll never get how you get your hair to stand up like that. And do you were contacts or something, because there is no way that that's your natural eye color."

"My hair is naturally this spiky, no I don't were contacts, and yes this is my natural eye color. I don't go for cheap imitations to look intimidating, I can do that with my personality alone." he gritted out starting to loose his patience with the other man. "So what's the kid's name?"

"Uh..." he looked at his clipboard that showed the visitors that the office had gotten. "Naruto Uzumaki, I think." Shadow stopped short, stiffening noticeably at the name.

"Are you sure?" he turned to Minoru, who nodded.

"And there was a girl with him who's name is... Hinata Uzumaki. They must be siblings."

"How old are they?"

"Six at least. Why? Shouldn't you know?" Minoru cocked a silvery eyebrow at the black haired man. Minoru had silver-gray hair that hung down by his shoulders and gray-brown eyes. He was shorter than Shadow by at least six inches, seeing as Shadow was six feet five inches.

"Never mind. Where are they?" replied the fox shaking his head slightly. _'There's no way they're alive. I wonder if anyone else came back.'_

"Waiting for you by your desk. They seem pretty scared, so don't make them go into shock Kagemaru." replied his counterpart, his eyebrow still cocked. Shadow nodded and turned back around, walking to the part of the office that had his desk, as well as Minoru's, Rika's, and a girl trooper's desk who's name he could never remember.

No sooner had he walked through the doorway, did a blond blur attach itself to his leg, a blueish-black blur following soon after. Both were crying, fear evident on their faces. Who could blame them. They were in a future part of Konoha, as six-year-olds.

It took some doing to remove them from his legs, and the black haired fox sat in his chair, rubbing his temples to fight off a coming head ache.

"Three questions. One, how did you get here when both of you went to Heaven instead of Hell. Two, why are you six-year-olds. And three, how did you know how to find me." he stated rather than asked. Naruto spoke first, his small form shaking slightly with nervousness.

"We found a doorway out and took it, I have no idea why we're six-year-olds, and we just wandered around until we came across this building that had your name on it on the plaque outside giving the names of the troopers here. The one thing that I do know for certain is that Kyuubi is no longer inside me, I'm not Hokage anymore, and me and Hinata-chan aren't hanyous anymore."

"Kyuubi is now in charge of the Kitsune Clan, remember? I think that the reason for you not being hanyous anymore is when Kyuubi made sure that you went to Heaven, he had to remove the demonic sides of you two to do said act. In demon years, if you went by age, you were around six, so that explains that." Shadow groaned and leaned his head back, closing his eyes and breathing out through his mouth. "And don't go blabbing about things like that. People in this time don't belive in demons, and ninja are just myths or history to them."

"Ok." Naruto replied. "What else should we not do?"

"Don't say, '-san,' '-sama,' '-chan,' or '-kun' at the end of names. That will just arouse a bunch of questions that will get awkward answers." he replied, his head coming back to the front. "And because of the tedious laws in this time, I'll have to get you enrolled in a school or get arrested, get you two put in a foster home, and loose my job." _'Not that that's a bad thing. I don't even like my job. But it would destroy my reputation.' _

"I heard that man call you Kagemaru, why?" Hinata spoke up finally.

"Well, my full name is Aka Kagemaru Kiba Kitsune. But everyone calls me Shadow for short. And its easier to say and remember. And, refer to me as dad or something in public, that way, we won't raise suspicion." replied the black haired man. "Well, adopted dad anyway." Naruto and Hinata nodded. They jumped when Rika entered the room abruptly, holding a huge box wrapped in plastic wrap. "What's that?" he asked, a bit of a draw to his voice.

"Ten pounds of crack. Found it in the trunk of a car that I pulled over for speeding. Man, that guy was so high on the stuff that he couldn't see straight!" he replied proudly. "You missed some fun!" Shadow shook his head and sighed.

"I can hardly see how pulling over some crack head and listening to him ramble on about his dirty gym socks and second grandmother can be fun. I've been here... listening to these two explain why they are here and not at home." Shadow said, pointing at the six-year-olds. Hinata blushed while Naruto shuffled his feet nervously.

"Who are they?"

"My adopted kids. Naruto Uzumaki-Kitsune and Hinata Uzumaki-Kitsune. They're siblings." he replied, glaring at Naruto when he opened his mouth to protest. He was not going to have six-year-old saying that he was married to his 'sister.' Rika would think that he was some sicko, not that he cared.

"I didn't know that you had kids Shadow."

_'Neither did I.' _he thought skeptically. "Yeah, well. I wanted to keep the cold ice-prick appearance up as best I could, and for as long as I could. I adopted them last week and I'm still working on getting them enrolled in a school." he lied.

"Well, Ridgewood Elementary has enough space left for two more. And the year just started, so they won't be that far behind." Rika pointed out.

"Great idea! Well, gotta go, see ya tomorrow." Shadow said, standing up and herding Naruto and Hinata out the door to his patrol car. "Phew, close one. Come on, lets get you home." they followed him out side and to his car, getting in the back seat as the fox demon closed the driver's side door. The two now-six-year-olds didn't let go of each other until they pulled up to a small house in a town called Groves. A red Dodge Stratus was parked in the garage and Shadow parked his trooper car over to the side in an empty space.

"Come on you two." he said, climbing out of the car. Hastily complying, Naruto and Hinata followed the fox up the three steps to the door and into the house after he unlocked the door and opened it. "So, how did you like your first car ride?"

"I-It was scary but fun." Hinata replied. She saw something flash out of the corner of her eye and got into a taijutsu stance.

"Relax. Its just Momma Sneezy. I'm taking care of her and her daughters, Outlaw and Blondie until their owner gets back from vacation." he soothed sternly, tossing his keys onto the table and opening the fridge. He tossed the two now-children a can of coke each and pulled out a bottle of beer himself. "You can watch Tv or whatever. I need to get some paper work sent in. Just don't break anything." he said, stifling a yawn.

The black haired kitsune walked into the other room and pushed a button on his computer, waiting for it to boot up. The phone rang, and he sighed, walking back into the kitchen and picking it up.

"Yo."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!!!?" a voice screeched down the line, making Shadow yank the phone away from his sensitive ears.

"Sarge, what have I told you about my sensitive hearing?" he said, switching ears and rubbing his abused one.

"I don't care what you've told me! You're supposed to be on call tonight. So get in your patrol car and get down to the highway to stop speeders and druggies!" his Sargent yelled.

"I can't right now. Something came up and I had to get home." _'He's like a male Tsunade!'_

"The only reason you should be at home right now is if your dieing or if your house is burning down!"

"Fine, fine. Let me get my uniform on and I'll get down to the highway." he replied with a sigh. He heard a grunt and the other line clicked off, signifying that his Sargent had hung up. Doing the same, Shadow put the phone down and plodded back into the living room. "I need to get to work you two or Sarge is going to have my head. There's leftover chicken in the fridge, you can heat it up when ever. Just try not to burn down the house or break anything."

"Yes mother." Naruto shot sarcastically, making Shadow growl. "Why can't we go with you?" he whined.

"Because this is a serious job that is just a bad as being a ninja if not worse. And its boring. Half the time I just sit in my car listening to the radio and counting cars as they go by." he replied, smacking the blond. "Don't leave the house, and you can go to bed when ever you want. If I have to get Kyuubi down here I'm going to tan your hide brat. Hinata, keep him in check please."

Hinata nodded and blinked. Shadow disappeared into his room and came out a little while later, still pushing his gun into his belt. (Most of you should know what a Texas DPS officer uniform looks like.) He adjusted the cowboy like hat on his head and walked out the door, grabbing his keys as he went.

(---Shadow's POV---)

Wow. I can't believe this. Naruto and Hinata are back. Well, actually, I can believe it, but still. And you know something else? MY SARGENT IS A PAIN IN THE ASS!!! At least he keeps me on my toes. He's worse than Rika, and that's a bad thing.

I wonder if anyone else will manage to come back. Probably not, but its nice to keep my hopes up. I'm just praying that Naruto doesn't kill the cats I'm looking after, burn my house down, or make it collapse on its self. I mean, I have faith in Hinata to keep him in his place, but the metabolism of a six year old, plus Naruto's energy, equals a world full of pain and suffering for me.

Back on the subject of the others coming back. It'd be nice if everyone was able to escape from where ever they went—except Sakura. Her I could live with out.

(---Normal POV and two hour time skip---)

Shadow was sitting on the side of Twin-City Highway, staring off into space, thinking about the day, and the many slow painful ways that he could kill Rika and his Sargent. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head to look out the passenger side window. The only thing he could see in the 9:00 darkness was a silhouette of a small person.

He carefully opened his door and slipped out, closing it behind him. The silhouette moved again, in his direction this time. Then, it fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Running over to it, the black haired fox pulled out his flashlight and turned it on. Stifling a gasp, he reached a hand out to shake the boy. He had raven colored hair and pale skin, and was the size of a six year old. When the boy jerked his head up at the kitsune's touch, red eyes clashed with the onyx of none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" he whispered. The raven nodded, unable to speak through the tears and sobs that were escaping from his eyes and throat. Moving the beam of his flashlight to the raven's leg, the saw that it was caught in a branch, bleeding heavily. Quickly moving to the boy's leg, he snapped the branch, freeing Sasuke's leg. Unable to think of anything else to do, the raven haired boy clung tightly to Shadow's arm as the kitsune picked him up and caried him back to the patrol car, setting him down in the passenger side seat.

Shadow popped the trunk and pulled out a First Aid kit. He took out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured it on Sasuke's leg, earning a gasp from the boy. Using a cloth to clean the wound, the black haired demon pulled out roll of gause, wrapping Sasuke's ankle firmly and tapping it with medical tape. Shadow closed the First Aid kit, placing it back in the trunk, closing that and walking back to the passenger side door.

"So, mind telling me why you're wandering on the side of the highway in the pitch blackness of the night?" he asked crouching down next to the boy, who was still wiping his face free of tears.

"I-I was looking for someone to help me when my leg got caught in that branch. Then you came and helped me, where am I?" he replied, getting control of his emotions.

"The side of Twin-City Highway."

"Oh. Thanks for helping me Shadow. But why are you here?"

"Doing my job. I'm a state trooper in this time. Basicly, I sit on the side of the highway from six till eleven-thirty staring off into space. Now and then I get to bust a druggies or speeder, or fire my gun. Most of the time though its pretty peaceful. I can't bring you home until my shift is over so you'll have to wait with me."

Sasuke nodded and sat back, his cat ears flicking on the top of his head. _'Wait wait wait. Cat ears? What the hell?!' _Shadow took a good look a the raven haired boy, noting that he still had his hanyou features. Kyuubi must have no had to purify him. Neko-demons were usualy used as pets and very few were powerful enough to be concidered demons. This might proove a huge problem in the future, especially since Shadow would have to fill out adoption papers and enroll him in a school too.

"That's different. Naruto and Hinata didn't have their hanyou features anymore. I suppose that Kyuu didn't have to get rid of your hanyou side." Sasuke nodded and settled back in his seat. Shadow closed the door, plodding back around to his side and sitting down in his seat.

"So the dobe is here as well as his wife?"

"Yeah, but don't use the word dobe, and don't mention Hinata as Naruto's wife. They took the appearance of six year olds too. Them I can understand, but not you. You retained your demon features. I suppose that there's a rational explination for it, but..." he was cut off when a car zoomed past him, swerving across the road and almost hitting several others. "Hold that thought." Shadow said as he started the motor, turned on the sirens, and hit the gas, speeding off after the other car.

Shadow dodged around other cars with practiced ease, catching up to the speeder quickly. Sasuke had long ago put his seat belt on, not even having to be told, his tail fluffed up in fright. Shadow edged around to the back corner of the speeder and nudged it, making the man spin out and stop. Screeching to a halt not far away, Shadow leaped out of the patrol car and grabbed his gun, holding it infront of him.

"STEP OUT OF THE CAR AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!!" he comanded. The driver side door opened and a teenager sprinted out of it, into the median between the highways. Shadow raced after him, using his demonic speed to catch up quickly. Tackling the teenager, he held him to the ground, pulling out some handcuffs. "Where you runnin to boy?" he growled, cuffing the teen's hand roughly behind his back and putting his gun back in its holster.

"Alright, that hurts!" the boy yelped.

"Good." Shadow grunted, yanking him up and dragging him to patrol car. He opened the back door and roughly shoved the boy into the seat. "Sasuke, if he tries anything, knock him out." Sasuke nodded.

"What's that fucking brat going to be able to do to me? I'm twice his size." the teen sneered. He yelped as Shadow yanked him up by the collar of his shirt and shook him.

"Watch your mouth boy. I don't like people who swear infront of children. And you reek of kokane and booze." he growled, his eyes glowing with malice. He pushed the teenager back down into the back seat, slammed the door closed and walked back to the boys car. He gave it a thurough search, coming up with several plastic bags of kokane and three twelve-packs of beer. What the kitsune didn't see was a driver's licence, meaning that the boy was DWI and a underage.

Trecking back to the patrol car, he opened the driver side door and sat down, pulling out his hand held radio and saying, "This is Kagemaru. I need a tow truck on Twin-City Highway at mile marker 22. And I also need someone ready at the juvinile prison ready to take this brat in. He was speeding, and in possetion of kokane and beer, he's underage and evaded arrest." a voice crackled on the other side of the radio and Shadow closed the door and started the motor back up. "You're in for it now asshole."

"I thought you said that you didn't like it when people cuss around children?" the teen snapped. Shadow smirked as he started to drive in the direction of the jail.

"I did." he replied. By the time they got to the jail, Shadow had gotten a name and age out of the boy and also made sure that he would have nightmares for the next month.

On the way back, Sasuke had finaly managed to calm down, and swallowed hard. "You sure are... thurogh." he muttered.

"Hey, making teenagers wet their pants is what I do best. And I tell you what, Ibiki was a lucky bastard when he did his job. Hell, _I_ was even interogated a couple times by him. Remember when I first met Naruto-baka, I disappeared for about three days?"

"Yeah."

"Tsunade-baa-chan forced me to get my mind scanned by the trench coat obsessed man. And I think that the things that he saw were worse than anything that he had seen before, even in Naruto-baka." Shadow said with a cuckle in his voice. "I think that they'll be surprised that you're back too. Do you know of anyone else that came back?" Sasuke shook his head and leaned back some more.

Shadow stole a glance at his clock and saw that it was midnight. He sighed and took the Nederland exit that would take him through Nederland, Port Neches and into Groves.

By the time the black haired demon pulled into the drive way, Sasuke was sound asleep, snoring lightly. He climbed out of the patrol car, closing the door quietly behind him, and walked over to Sasuke's side. Carefully, he picked the boy up in one arm and closed the passenger side door, locking the car. He fished his house key out of his pocket, walking up the steps to the door, and pushing it open and walking inside.

Naruto was still awake, watching Tv, Hinata was leaning against his shoulder, sound asleep. The blonde's head swivled in Shadow's direction when he heard him drop his keys on the table. He had to stifle a gasp when he saw Sasuke sound asleep, curled up in one of Shadow's arms, his tail hanging limply twards the floor.

"Why does he still have his hanyou features!?" Naruto managed to yell with out raising his voice. Shadow shrugged a little.

"I guess that Kyuubi forgot to remove them. He doesn't smell like a hanyou, so that means that he's just a regular human with cat features." the fox whispered. "You don't seem very surprised that he's back too."

"I'm not. He came with us but got separated when we went through the door that led back down here." Shadow nodded and told Naruto to carry Hinata to the guest room. The bed was big enough for five children to sleep side by side with enough room to be comfortable. Shadow didn't plan on getting that many kids, in fact, he hadn't even planned on getting one!

The kitsune placed Sasuke down on the bed and covered him up, Naruto doing the same with Hinata, then climbing into the bed next to her.

"Call me if you need anything. I'll be up until two, so don't worry about waking me up." he said softly. Naruto nodded sleepily before drifting off into a peaceful sleep. Shadow walked out of the room and turned the light off as he went and closing the door.

_**There's chappie one. Long I know, but I like how it turned out. And I don't want anyone bitching at me saying that I need to finish the Kitsune's Eye, I know that very well, I just haven't gotten the inspiration to continue writing. Review! Ja!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow of the Future 

Chapter 2

In ancient times, huge, blood thirsty creatures called demons roamed the Earth. Humans feared them with passion and would rally their friends to hunt them. Now, three thousand years later, demons hide in plain sight, living as normally as they can as either pets, or humans. Aka Kagemaru Kiba Kitsune is one of those—though his friends call him Shadow—and he has a very shitty predicament resting on his shoulders. He needs to enroll a loud blond, a timid blunette, and a raven haired neko-hanyou who has an ego the size of Jupiter into a school. The first grade to be exact. He also had to go over do's and don't's with them and knowing that the blond has the attention span of a rock, that is going to be one hell of a challange.

They were sitting in his living room. Naruto and Hinata were on his couch, Sasuke was talking with Outlaw—a black tabby she-cat that Shadow was taking care of—and Shadow was sitting in his desk chair in front of his computer. Scratching his head and sighing, Shadow turned the Tv off, earning a loud protest from Naruto, told Outlaw to find her mother and sister for him, and leaned forward.

"Now, first things first. I need to get you three into a school. How I have no idea, especially with Sasuke's predicament."

"Hey!" the raven protested. One of his neko ears twitched with indignity. It was a funny sight, but Shadow didn't point that out for his own sake. He didn't know if the six-year olds could still mold chakra or not.

"Tomorrow is Monday so I'll go to Ridgewood Elementary with you to get you enrolled, but first, I need to go over some things. 1) _Do not _swear. I don't want to be called up to the office. 2) Don't do any jutsu, unless you want to be experiments in a laboratory. 3) Try not to pick fights Naruto. It'll cause trouble. And 4) Do your best to fit in. Sasuke, you might have to stuff your tail in your pants and keep your ears folded down. That may be safest.

"This is a regular school, not a ninja academy. So you'll be insanely bored because its things you've already learned, just pretend to listen and keep up in classes as best you can. Other than that, that should be all. Any questions?" everyone shook their heads and Shadow nodded, a pleased smirk on his face. Outlaw came back with Momma Sneezy—her mother—and Blondie—her sister.

_"What do you want us for?" _Momma Sneezy mewed.

"Keep these three busy if you don't mind." he said pointing at the three six-year-olds. "And when you talk, use motions with your hands guys, Blondie's deaf." the kitsune added to Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto. They nodded and Shadow stood up and walked into his room to get dressed for work. It may have been Sunday, but he was still on call.

---The next day---

"So, what you are saying is, you want these three enrolled in this school and in the same classes?" the principal of Ridgewood Elementary asked, shifting in her chair.

"If its conviniant. They get along with others when they're together and Sasuke has some...er... special needs." Sasuke glared at him darkly, an almost inaudible growl rumbling from his throat.

"Yes, I noticed that he doesn't have ears. What's wrong with him?"

"He was born with out regular ears so his parents had a transplant." he nodded to the raven and he revealed his cat ears. "His hearing is ten times what it would have been. I don't want him picked on because of this and he feels safest around these two." Shadow figured that the principal didn't hear his last part, she was busy ogling at Sasuke's ears. Shadow smirked, desperately trying to hold back a snicker. "Uh, ma'am, he doesn't like being stared at. So anyway, I hope that you accept the enrollment."

"O-Of course Mr. Kitsune. I think that they will do just fine here. Get them some school supplies and they can start tomorrow." the principal said. There were two reasons that she excepted, 1) she thought that Sasuke was utterly adorable, 2) the aura of malice and death surrounding Shadow made her a bit wary.

"Thank you." Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke copied his actions and followed the black haired kitsune out of the office. Sasuke's ears attracted the attention of several students, and the raven lowered them significantly. Once they were in Shadow's car, they let out a heavy breath. "I'll have a kitsune watching the school to make sure that your not harmed in any way. I could smell several demons in that building." the fox said, starting the motor.

He pulled out of the parking lot, heading straight for a local Wal Mart. They quickly got the supplies that they needed—Naruto tried to heave several armfuls of instant ramen into the cart, but a glare from Shadow and Sasuke forced him to put it all back.

When they exited the store, they saw a small boy huddled out side the doors, begging for food. Naruto did a double take when he recognized the dark rings around the red head's green eyes.

"G-Gaara?! Is that really you?" he exclaimed. The boy's head snapped up and he blinked.

"Naruto? Hinata? Sasuke?" they nodded. "I must be dreaming again."

"No, your not." Shadow said. "Come on, lets get you home and cleaned up." _'Looks like I'll have to enroll him too. Ugh, here we go again. Then again, I could always ask Shukaku to adopt him. My house is over crouded enough as it is.'_

They led the boy to the car and jammed into the back seat, Hinata getting the front seat this time. On the way home, Gaara explained every thing from returning to Earth, up until now. Shadow nearly slammed his foot on the breaks when the red head said that he had been attacked by wild foxes.

"WHAT?!!!" he roared. "I'LL HAVE THERE HEADS MOUNTED ON MY WALLS!!" Everyone else in the car edged as far away from the kitsune as they could, scared of what they might do. But Shadow just continued to growl and mutter curses.

Pulling up in the drive way, they noticed that there was a navy blue Ford F-150 parked in the grass in front of the house. Shadow resisted the urge to smash his head against the steering wheel when he recognized the license plate of Rika's truck.

"Why the hell is he here?" he muttered darkly. The six-year-olds followed the fox into his house, staying a safe distance, and ready to run if said fox blew up in a fit of rage. They _really _didn't want to go through that again.

_Flashback..._

_"Come on Shadow!! You have to do me this one favor!" Naruto whined. The thirteen year old genin was a bit too persistent for the kitsune's liking._

_"I've been doing 'this one favors' for three months! When I say no, it means NO!!" the blonde pouted and glared a the the kitsune._

_"Please! I just need you to wear the costume for one picture." he pouted, holding up the...pink bear suit... Shadow shuddered involentarily at the sight of the 'pinker-than-Sakura's-hair' costume._

_"And that is precisely why I won't wear it! You'll use it as blackmail knowing you!"_

_"No I won't. Please!"_

_"NO!!! I'M NOT WEARING THAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!! I'LL HAVE TO BURN MY SELF ALIVE IF I DO!!" he roared, making the ground shake. Naruto hid behind Kyuubi, who was already shaking—with laughter and fear—and whimpered._

_Flashback End..._

The group—minus Shadow—shuddered at the thought and stayed close to the door so they could bolt if need be. Rika walked merrily out of the living room, a smile on his face.

"How the hell did you get inside?" the kitsune growled.

"Picked the lock. And don't swear in front of children."

"Trust me, they're used to it. Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to come by and say hi. And ask you to do a favor for me." Rika replied sheepishly.

"It depends on what it is."

"Well, I need you to..." -zoom out to a view of the solar system-

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!?!?!!!" -zoom back in to Shadow's kitchen- Everyone, save Shadow, was cowering in the farthest corner of the house, wanting to be as far away from him as possible. There was a black aura swirling around the fox as he breathed heavily, trying to bottle his rage before he took it out on some innocent—or not so innocent—person or piece of furniture. Only Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke and Hinata knew what that aura was—the foxes yokai—and they didn't want to provoke him any more. Rika, unfortunately, didn't, so he decided to repeat himself.

"Fill in for me at a wedding. I was asked to be the best man, but my mother is in the hospital and the doctors said that she doesn't have much longer to live, so I want to be there for her every moment." he squeaked pathetically. Rika yelped as Shadow yanked him up by his shirt collar and shook him like a rag doll.

"Do you have any idea how much I hate you right now you fucking bastard!!!? I can't fill in for a wedding! Hell, _I_ haven't even had a finance yet! I know _nothing _about being a fucking best man!! I don't even know who you're talking about!!" he screamed, still shaking Rika violently.

"He... speci..ficly.. requested..you for... the..jo..b! He...sai..d that... he... kne...w you bet...ter than... anyone!" he managed to choke out, starting to get nauseous.

"Who is he!!?"

"Your... broth...er!" Shadow stopped shaking the brunette, and dropped him into a heap on the floor.

"Kyuubi?" he growled and started shaking Rika again. "Why did he ask you instead of me first!!?"

"I... don't... know but... he sai...d that... he... knew th...at you... might...b..e busy!" he replied, turning a bit green. "Le...t go... of... me!" the kitsune complied and as soon as the brunette was up, he staggered to the bathroom and started retching. Naruto's head poked around the corner and he gulped at the steaming kitsune standing stark still in the middle of the kitchen. Gulping, he approched causiously and tugged on his jacket's sleeve. The kitsune's red eyes snapped to him and the blond backed up a little.

"Are you ok?" he squeaked.

"Uh, yeah. But I'm going to skin Kyuubi alive, roll him in salt, and bathe him in rubbing alcohol." he growled.

"Ouch." Shadow nodded, a sadistic smirk on his face.

"And I've done it before too." he said with a snicker. Naruto backed up some more and gulped. He really, _really_ hopped that the fox hadn't cracked.

_**There's chappie 2. I know it took a while to get up, but hey, a masterpiece takes a while to write... or something like that. Review! Ja!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow of the Future 

I own nothing 'cept the Ocs and the plot.

Chapter 3

Sighing, Shadow brought his foot up and kicked the Naruto, resulting in him, Sasuke, Hinata, and Gaara all tumbling onto the floor. They landed in an ungraceful heap, Naruto being on the very bottom.

"Now that you're up, get dressed. I need to get you four to school in the next fifteen minutes." he said, a sadistic smirk on his face.

"Asshole." Naruto muttered. He had managed to crawl out from under the others—who were still half- asleep—and brush himself off.

"Why thank you. Move it!" he trudged out of the room, Hinata following with her clothes. She was going into the bathroom, not wanting any perverts—coughNarutocough--peeking on her. Shadow poured himself some coffie, adding some of his caffene shot packets to it. He couldn't jump into a lake like he could three thousand years ago, so he had to settle for a hell of a lot of caffene.

There was a knock on the door, and the fox sighed and opened it. He stiffled a groan when he saw Rika standing there with an idiotic grin on his face. At least he had the decency to knock instead of picking the damn lock like he had yesterday.

"What do you want Rika." he deadpanned. "If its not important, bug off."

"Let me in first." Shadow sighed and opened the door. "You know, every time you sigh, you get shorter."

"I don't think I have to worry about that seeing as I tower over you like a tree."

"So I'm short for my age! There's nothing wrong with that. So anyway, I noticed that you had two other kids with you yesterday. Did you adopt them too?"

"Well, one of them, the one with the chicken-ass-hair..."

"I heard that jackass!" Sasuke called from the other room.

"You were ment to!" the kitsune retorted with a smirk on his face. "The other one, I'm gonna have Shukaku look after. He's best suited for the job anyway." he noticed that Rika had saucer eyes. "What?"

"Did a six-year-old just call you a jackass, and you didn't do anything? If it were my kid, adopted or not, I would tan his hide."

"You get used to their wonderful vocabulary after a while, trust me. Sasuke's first word was ass, I just know it."

"Actualy, it was revenge." Sasuke said sarcasticly, coming into the room, heafting a back pack onto his back. Rika's eyes doubled in size when he saw his cat ears, and before you could blink, he was behind him, tugging merrily on the fuzzy appendages. Shadow thanked Kami that he had stuffed his tail in his pants—or wound it around his body under his shirt. "H-Hey!! Stop that!" he snapped. Rika paid him not heed, and continued to tug on his ears.

"Are these real?" he murmmered to himself.

"Yes they're real! That hurts stop it!!" Sasuke swiped at the bruenette with his claws, but thankfuly he missed. Rika stopped yanking his ears and apologized; though one could tell that his curiosity was not spent quite yet. Naruto and Hinata trodded into the kitchen after a while, Gaara following soon after.

_"We're going to have to do something about those claws of yours Sasuke." _Shadow growled. He did so so softly that only the raven could hear him. Said raven gave a tiny nod to let the kitsune know he heard him. Shadow sheparded Rika out the door, pushing him by the back to make sure that he actualy left instead of pretending to leave, then going into the house after the fox left. _'I really should put some guard inside when I leave to make fure that no freaks get in hear and traumatize any animals I'm looking after at the moment.'_

The six-year-olds followed him outside and waited for him to unlock the car so they could get in it. Once said act was done, they got in hastily and put their seat belts on. Shadow got them to the school in record time, hearding them into the building and to their class rooms. Their teacher was a pale-blond called Ms. Jordan, and this was her first year teaching. Bidding them farewell, the kitsune left for home, but not before stationing another kitsune in the class room, hidden by a genjutsu. It was none other than Flamestrom, one of Naruto's old friends from the Kitsune Clan. He was a super pale orange fox with a brown paw and brown tipped tail, and dark blue eyes.

"Class, we have _four _new studants today. Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki-Kitsune, Sasuke Uchiha-Kitsune, and Gaara Subaku-Tanuki." Ms. Jordan said. She turned to the six-year-olds and said. "There's some empty seats in the back." then, turning back to the class, "I don't want them made fun of, okay?" she said cheerfuly, but with a glare that could kill. Sasuke could smell demon on her, but a friendly type. She was a pheonix demon, some of the kindest and fairest of demons, but they controled with an iron wing.

The raven looked down as he saw a note slide onto his desk. It read 'Smell any demons?' it was from Naruto. He scribbled something on it and slid it back to Naruto. Here's what he wrote:

'Yeah dobe. The teacher is a pheonix demon. Then the fat one in the front row is a bear demon, as well as the one infront of you. That red haired girl in the third row is a dog demon, and the black haired boy next to her is a jaguar demon. Then I can smell a kitsune by the door, it must be one of Shadow's. He smells like Flamestrom, lucky us.' he saw Naruto scribble something on the note and slid it back to him.

'Damn that's a lot. Thanks teme, and we are lucky that we got Flamestrom today to watch us. Let's hope that Shadow let our teacher know that he would be doing this, seeing as the Kitsune Clan has a huge aliance with the Pheonix Clan.' Sasuke smirked and turned his attention back to the front of the class. Ms. Jordan was explaining somthing, and Sasuke tried to pick it up, and work backwards from there to catch up.

His eyebrows shot into his hair line when he heard her talking about the two key members of the Kitsune Clan and their relations, whether it was important friends or family. He snorted when he heard her mention Shadow's dry sense of humor, and the Kyuubi incendent when he was sealed into Naruto. The entire class turned to stare at Naruto when she said his full name, Naruto Uzumaki, and the blond sunk as far as he could into his chair, wanting to just disappear in thin air. Then the whole class stared at Sasuke when the word Uchiha was mentioned. He copied Naruto's actions, hating being the center of attention.

Ms. Jordan noticed how uncomfortable the two boys were and cleared her throat to gain the attention of the rest of the kids. She started teaching again, and got a fact wrong about the Kitsune Clan, saying that when Shadow died, he didn't come back. Naruto's hand shot into the air and he was called on.

"Um, that's not completely right, ma'am. Aka Kagemaru did come back, he just didn't resume his role as leader of the Kitsune Clan." the entire class—save his companions and Flamestrom, who was still hidden—gaped at the blonde.

"How would you know that Mr. Uzumaki-Kitsune? Our text books don't say anything about that." Ms. Jordan asked kindly.

"Er, Dad is an expert on the history of ancient demon clans. He told us stories about it, and that was one of them. He also told me about Kouen Kyuubi (red flame nine tails), saying that he was just a walking marshmellow with too many tails..." he trailed off, blushing at being the center of attention again.

"Freak." the bear demon in the front muttered. Naruto supressed the urge to impale him with a pencil, seeing as that would cause a bit of unnecisary attention, and that Shadow would rip his head off and throw into a gorge of lava. So he just glared at the bear, also resisting the urge to growl. All the demons in the room stiffened when his chakra spiked dangerously, letting them know his real thoughts.

"Isn't your dad a state trooper?" the teacher asked. Naruto nodded and said:

"But he said that he majored in history when he went to collage." the blonde lied. They heard someone snicker from the door and turned to look, but saw nothing. That spooked the human kids, the demon kids' eyes widened when they smelled a kitsune there, knowing emeidiatly that the newcommers were under the protection of the Kitsune Clan, meaning that they had some relation to either Kyuubi or Shadow, or both. Ms. Jordan just smiled warmly in Flamestrom's direction, letting him know that she knew he was there.

She continued teaching, Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara continued to pretend to listen, and the rest of the class continued to murmmer to one another about what Naruto said, and the absence of the one who snickered. What they didn't know was that there was not one, but five kitsune's stationed around the school, infact, one of them was the P. E. teacher. When it was time for recess, Ms. Jordan pulled Naruto aside and whispered to him, "Tell Shadow that I said hi, and that I'm the one his brother is marrying." the blonde nodded and followed his friends out the door and to the playground.

After a while, the fat bear demon from before cornered Sasuke and started teasing him about his ears. Sasuke just clenched his fists at his sides and ignored him. The bear got tired of the raven ignoring him and tried to punch him, but his fist was cought by an invisable force. Said force revealed itself to be a kitsune that was larger bigger than he was and a hell of a lot stronger. She was a golden, four-tailed fox with two orange paw and bright blue eyes. She had caught the bear's hand in her paw, not wanting to harm him unnecisarily.

"Sapphire!" Naruto exclaimed. She smirked and tossed the bear back into his 'friends' then turning to the blond with a smile.

"Hey Naruto. Nice to see ya again." she said cheerfuly.

"Y-You're under the protection of kitsunes? How do you know them?" the fat bully demanded, having recovered from his enitial shock.

"Because, he knows me." said a deep voice from behind them. Shadow materialized from the shadows (heheh, pun) in his fox form, all of his tails swishing behind him threataningly. He had taken the size of a rhino this time, just because he could. All of the demons in the playground stopped all motion at this point as they gaped at the legendary kitsune. "And if you're stupid enough to continue your asult on my friends, then—hehe, well, lets just say that your parents will sorely miss you."

"Y-You mean y-you'll kill m-me." Shadow's response was to growl at the bear demon, baring his fangs and narrowing his eyes.

"I may not be ruler of the Kitsune Clan anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't control other demons. After all, Kyuubi only took the job because I threataned him." he replied with a sadistic smirk present on his face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Aka Kagemaru Kiba Kitsune. Did you get bored of sitting infront of a computer and sighning papers all day?" a sneering voice said from behind them. Shadow turned around to see a snake demon behind him. Of course, that snake demon was in his human form, but that didn't mean he didn't look creepy, all snake demons did, human or not.

"Orochi." he growled. "I thought you were dead centuries ago." the snake smirked and transformed into his human form, hissing at him dangerously. The fox growled and backed up, his enormous paws stepping carefuly. "If you're looking for a fight, you've got one." he snarled. Naruto and the others knew what was coming and started barking orders at the other students and teachers to get inside and barracade themselves in a class room or the gym. Not wanting to argue—even though they were taking orders from six year olds, they all got inside. Sasuke whistled and all of the kitsunes that where stationed in the school appeared infront of him.

"Make sure that no one leaves the building or gets hurt." he ordered. The kitsunes nodded and positioned themselves out side all the doors. He stayed out side with the others to make sure that nothing got too out of hand. Naruto, Hinata, Gaara, and himself placed a massive genjutsu to hide the fight from anyone that had not seen the demons yet, and got ready to help their old friend.

_**There's chappie three! And here's an explanation of Shadow's name incase any of you are confused.**_

_**Aka: For his red eyes.**_

_**Kagemaru: He can melt in and out of shadows and his fur is black**_

_**Kiba: Other than his strength and ninjutsu, his fangs are his greatest attrabute**_

_**Kitsune: This one's kind of obvious ain't it.**_

_**All great and legendary have four parts to their names, giving their status in life, and describing them. If you ask what a kitsune looks like and they're legendary, the person describing it can just dish out its name.**_

_**Review! Ja!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow of the Future 

I own nothing 'cept the Ocs and plot

Chapter 4

Orochi hissed as he glared at Shadow, his maw dripping with saliva and venom. Shadow growled and lowered his head, baring his fangs. He tensed, ready to attack or dodge, and activated his bloodline—the Kitsunegan. Orochi took the first attack, lunging at the kitsune, ready to bite him in half. Shadow blured out of sight and came crashing down on the snake's head, scoring his claws across his eyes. The eight tailed snake reared up and hissed in pain, blood oozing out of his eyes. He smacked Shadow off of him with one of his tails, the rhino sized fox crashing into the school's main building. Shadow heard several scared screams from inside and winced as glass and stone cut sharply into his body.

The purple snake lunged at him, determind to kill the kitsune, but said kitsune grabbed his upper and lower jaw—which is quite difficult because he had to avoid the venom that was dripping from the snake's mouth. Shadow hefted the snake back and struck out at his soft underbelly. Orochi hissed and slithered backwards, avoiding all of the malice filled strikes Shadow was throwing at him. The snake looked for an opening and struck at the fox, bitting him in the abdomen, earning himself a pained howl.

Shadow slashed at the snake, his claws cutting deep in Orochi's muzzle, blood spraying all over his body. He growled when the snake wrapped his coils around his body, not relinquishing his hold on his abdomen. The kitsune was beginning to feel the effects of Orochi's venom, his vission bluring and his mucles burning with each movement. Orochi continued to squeeze the last of Shadow's life out of him, intent on finishing the battle, but Shadow had other plans.

The fox twisted around and kicked the snake hard in the mouth, snapping several of his fangs off. The snake hissed in rage and pain. Staggering a bit, Shadow landed hard on his feet, shaking his head to clear his vision. He had to finish this before he colapsed and was swallowed by Orochi for dinner.

"Thessse humanss that you protect ssso intently don't dessserve to live." the snake hissed. Shadow growled and lunged at the purple snake.

"They deserve a chance. I protect them because its the right thing to do." he snarled, slashing at the snake, spilling his blood all over the ground. Then, he leaped back, performing several signs with one paw. _'Doton: Fangs of the Dragon no Jutsu' _he thought. The ground shook and a stone dragon's head appeared bellow the snake, engulfing him in flames and closing around him. The last that was seen and heard of Orochi was his head being cut off and disappearing in a puff of smoke, and the screach of fury that he let out before then as he was burned alive.

Shadow smirked wearily before moaning and falling to the ground, unconscience. Orochi's venom was strong enough to kill any thing, even him. But, the fox's grip on life held firm, he didn't want do die, not now, not ever again.

Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara released the genjutsu and rushed to the fox. Hinata checked his vital signs. Her eyebrows knitted together as she felt for his pulse. It was there, but it was very, very weak, as was the fox's breathing. There was blood oozing slugishly from the bite marks in his abdomen, and there was a green tint to it, showing the venom. There was the same green tint to his front paws from when Shadow had grabbed the snake's jaws. Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara could faintly hear the murrmers of the the students and teachers as the filed out of the building. Some of them had managed to watch the battle, and were amazed at the strength of the demons.

Hinata carefuly removed the glass and stone from Shadow's back, and put a jutsu on him that would change him back to his human form. The studants that had seen him in his human form that morning gasped when they recognized him as Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata's adoptive father. Sapphire pushed her way through the croud to see what his condition was. Despite how much she tried to deny it, she still loved Shadow, and always would, no matter what.

"Well?" she asked hesitently. Hinata didn't look up from her work, but Sapphire could tell from the look on her face that things were not good.

"We need to get him to a hospital." the girl said. "If we don't he'll die."

"Why would anyone care about that monster?!" one of the human kids sneered. "Let him die. Look at what he did to the school! And to he the school yard! He deserves this for all the lives he endangered and all the damage he's done." Naruto growled and had to be held back by Sasuke and Gaara or he would have gutted the kid like a trout.

"All of this damage is from him protecting your lives!" the blond screeched. "You insensitive assholes have no right to accuse him of this! It was Orochi damn it! Orochi! Shadow was protecting you! You should be thankful!" the students gasped at the blond's language, and the bear demon that was teasing Sasuke before shoved the kid who had been insulting Shadow.

"Shut your trap Steven." the bear growled. "You have no right to insult the kitsune. Blondie's right. It was the snake that did this, all of this damage was his fault. If it wasn't for the kitsune, you might be dead right now."

Everyone gasped and stared at Naruto, who was still being restained by Sasuke and Gaara. There was a red substance swirling around him, and he eyes had bled into a blood red color. They could see ears growing out of the top of his head and a tail had burst through his pants. He had obviously retained some of his hanyou chakra, and his rage had activated it, making it spike and regrow his kitsune features. This made things more difficult for Sasuke and Gaara, seeing as the blond was still straining against their hold.

"Y-You're a half-demon!" the jaguar demon from that morning stuttered. "That means that you're the Naruto from legends, the half demon who had the Kyuubi sealed in him."

"So what if I am! I'm going to kill that bastard for insulting my friend!"

"Calm down idiot." Sasuke muttered. "He was already put in his place, leave it." Naruto growled, but stopped straining against the raven's and red head's hold, his eyes becoming blue again. They heard sirens in the distance, letting them know that one of the teachers had called 911.

Soon, Shadow was loaded in the back of an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. His friends hoped that he would be alright, his vital signs had started to weaken while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. The principal—who just so happened to be a tiger demon, tiger demons also had an aliance with the kitsunes—told all the students to call their parents and go home. There would be no school the rest of that day and the next day.

The kitsunes that were there sullenly covered all the blood up, and helped repair the school. Their minds weren't focased on their work though—especialy Sapphire's—but on their former leader. They knew that Orochi's venom killed, and there was no antivenom that was strong enough to subdue it. Shadow might die... again.

---The Next Day---

Naruto sighed as he picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Naruto?" Rika's voice sounded down the line.

"Yeah."

"Have you seen Shadow? I haven't seen head nor hide of him since yesterday morning."

"H-He's in the hospital." the blonde said in a depressed tone.

"What!? That's horrible! What happened!" Naruto explained the battle between Shadow and Orochi, the fact that Shadow was a demon—which Rika seemed to take well—and the kitsune's condition. "Do you want me to bring you and your friends to the hospital to see him?" the brutnette asked kindly, his usual childish demenor gone.

"Sure. I don't care."

"I'll be there in ten minutes." the line clicked off and Naruto put the phone down. Walking into the other room, he told the others. Rika pulled up in his patrol car soon after, getting out and knocking on the door. When Naruto answered the door, the brunette asked if he was ready and led him and his friends to his patrol car.

The drive to the hospital was quiet, no one could think of anything to say. They were too upset. Rika was starting to get worried, and to be honest, he was scared that his brother figure would die. Pulling into the parking lot, he ushered the six-year-olds into the hospital, asking the receptionist for Shadow's room number. When she said that he was in intensive care, Naruto choked a little, trying not to cry. One of the nurses led them to the fox's room, and told them that he was in a coma, and may never wake up.

Entering the room, Naruto stopped short when he saw all the machines hooked up to the kitsune. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw how slow the heart moniter was moving. Tears started to fall from his eyes, and he bent his head. They spent an hour in the hospital, before one of the nurses came in and said that visiting hours were over. The blonde was reluctant to go, but after some coxing from Hinata and Sasuke, and a pat on the shoulder from Gaara, he followed Rika back to the patrol car.

Rika decided to stay the night at Shadow's house, that way, he could make sure that the six-year-olds got to school the next day, and ate. Naruto was so depressed that he refused to even look at food.

"I promise, I'll take you to see him as often as I can." he said. "And don't worry, he's a strong guy, he'll pull through."

They got strange looks the next day when they went to school. Some were pity, some were fear, and others were sadness. Ignoring those looks, they continued through the day, trying to stay focased on what the teachers were saying. Infact, they did that for a month, and no word of Shadow waking up reached their ears, even though they went to see him every day.

When the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around, Rika took them to the hospital to see the kitsune, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that Shadow's bed was empty. Then, he almost wet his pants when a heavy weight landed on his back, making him fall flat on his face. Said weight flipped neatly off of him and landed lightly on the bed. Lifting his sore face, the brunette's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw Shadow sitting on his bed, a proud smirk on his face.

"Glad to see you're feeling better." he grunted.

"Feeling better?! Despite the broken leg, I feel great!" Shadow exclaimed. Rika cocked an eyebrow at the fox's behavior, sure that he had gone off the deep end at last. Naruto and Hinata helped the brunette up before rushing over to the fox, hugging him tightly, crying with joy. Sasuke and Gaara—because of their enormouse egos—stayed by the door, but smiles graced their lips.

The family moment was ruined when a group of men rushed into the room, all with guns. They were heavily covered with different types of protection. Armor plates, fire proof fabric, and plexiglass sheilds.

"What the hell is this?!" Shadow demanded, pushing Naruto and Hinata behind him.

"Under order of the state government, we are hear to capture you and bring you to a confinement facility. You will undergo a series of tests and be put in a national high security creature containment area for public view and for the safety of those around you." (arg! Too many big words!)

"Say what now?" Shadow said, a bit confused. The man who spoke sighed and said simply:

"The government has ordered for you to be taken to a lab and experamented on then put in a high security zoo. If you resist capture, we will be foreced to fire our wepons." he monotoned.

"Why am I being put in a zoo?"

"You are a danger to the public. You nearly killed several students using deadly force against another creature."

"I was protecting those brats! And that no good snake attacked me! Besides, as far as I know, I was the only one hurt, except that snake bastard—who by the way is no more. And I've been in a coma for the last month or so! Why didn't you swipe me in the middle of the night and bring me to a lab to be some lab rat?!"

"Watch your language sir. There are kids in the room."

"They swear more than I do! You are not going to take me to no god damn 'confinement facility.'" Shadow snarled, his red eyes narrowing.

"That's enough!" someone bellowed from behind them. Everone turned around to see the head doctor standing in the door way. "This man is an innocent person. He protected an entire school from a deadly enemy, he saved hundreds of lives. You have no right to arrest him."

"Sir, this matter does not concern you." one of the men stated.

"Oh yes it does. This is my hospital, and until he leaves this building, he is my patient. I've read his files and there is no reason for him to be arrested. No DWI, no DUI, and absolutly no arrests or speeding tickets or parking tickets. He is clean, he has no criminal record. Get out of my hospital, now."

"Sir, this is a monster, a demon. He needs to be taken into custidy and be put through a series of tests. Its for the safty of the public."

"Has anyone ever called the police for asult from this man?" no answer. "I thought not. What about any thing else that might lable him as a demon?"

"The entire facility of Ridgewood Elementary saw this man battle a giant snake as a huge black fox. He killed the snake using a strange power that has been seen in other creatures that we've captured. You can't argue against that evidance."

"Were any students injured?"

"Well... no. But that doesn't mean anything. We are going to take him, and there is nothing that you can do about it." the doctor was going to say something else, but Shadow cut him off.

"Stop trying doc. This is one argument that you aren't going to win. I'll go with you, but you won't be able to keep me there for long." he growled. The men cuffed him with reinfoced hand cuffs and brought him to a van that was waiting for them outside the hospital. Rika had to hold Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara back, or they would have run after the van.

"He'll be fine. Come on, let's go home." he murmered, herding them to his truck.

Later that night, they heard shouting and several gun shots, as well as and exclimation of "Holy Hell!" before the front door was kicked in, and Shadow bolted inside, slamming it closed and locking it behind him. Not only that, but he put a jutsu on the door, placing a barrier around the house, preventing anyone from getting in. The fox slid down to the floor, clutching his right leg in agony. Not only was it broken, but now there was a through and through gun shot wound in it. "A bunch of savages they are." he muttered, leaning his head against the door. "Do you have any idea what they tried to do to me?" he demanded, glaring at Rika. "They tried to shove a probe up my ass! A PROBE!! HA! Then, they tried to force me to tranform into my demon form..." he trailed off, slapping his hand over his mouth.

"Haha, don't worry, Naruto already explained everything to me." his counterpart said with a smile. "Carry on."

"Yeah... picking up where I left off... by zapping me with some prong! Then, they strapped me to a cold metal table and tried to cut me open to 'look at how the inside of a demon functioned.' That was too much, I bolted... and here I am. Now help me up." Shadow held out his hand and Rika pulled him up. The fox had to lean on the shorter man to be able to stand up and walk.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I suppose I should go home to the demon relm. Its the only place where I'll be safe now, what with the authorities swarming around outside and all. And with you helping me, you'll be arrested too, so I suppose that you'll have to come with me. I'll have to take Naruto and the others with me too. Hopefuly, Kyuubi kept my house at least a little bit clean." he said with a scowl. Rika laughed at his last coment and helped the fox settle down on the couch.

_**There's chappie 4! Fast I know, and angsty I know. I'm really inspired to write this story lately. Problem is, my friend at school is going to give me hell for not finishing The Kitsune's Eye yet. Review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Shadow of the Future 

For those of you that read my other Shadow centric stories, have you noticed that I'm on an 'embarrass Shadow' streak? Heheh...

I own nothing 'cept the Ocs and plot

Chapter 5

'Say goodbye! As we dance with the devil tonight! Don't you dare look at him in the eye...' CLICK. "Hello?" Shadow croaked. It was one in the morning, and he was trying to hold a barrier up and sleep at the same time, not an easy task.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU AT MY WEDDING!!!?" Kyuubi screeched, making Shadow jerk his cell phone away from his ear, wincing.

"Uhh... in a coma?"

"WHAT?!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU FUCKING MEAN YOU WERE IN A COMA!!!?" Shadow sighed and scratched his head, stifling a yawn.

"Orochi-teme challenged me to a fight. I killed him, but he managed to bite me. Now... the feds are after me because I escaped from a testing facility yesterday and ran away."

"THE FEDS ARE AFTER YOU!!? YOU MORON!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HORRIBLE THAT IS!!?" Shadow sighed and held his phone a save distance away from his ringing ears as Kyuubi continued his rant about irresponsible older brothers always getting in trouble with the law. The black kitsune my have a clean record in the human realm, but in the demon realm, he had a record as long a Sakura's and Ino's credit card bills had been... that's long. Basically, Shadow was the equivalent of an entire gang plus ten, and he was only one fox! Though, everyone disregarded that and treated him with the same respect they always did.

"Kyuubi... my ears are beginning to bleed. If you're going to rant, do it quietly, or don't do it at all." Shadow interrupted. He got an insane idea, that was probably dangerous for his health, not that his current situation was any worse. "So, how did your wedding go?" silence. Shadow snickered. "She turned you down at the last possible second didn't she?"

"Y-Yeah. She said something about a wild family and not meeting her expectations or something. I was too busy holding together my sanity to listen." Kyuubi replied in a depressed tone.

Smirking, Shadow rolled onto his back. "Yeah, you can thank me for that. She saw the whole fight between me and Orochi-teme, and didn't seem very pleased. Phoenixes, what'chya gonna do?" he could have sworn he heard his younger brother swearing in twenty languages and fifty dialects.

"So..." Kyuubi said, still trying to bottle his rage, "Where are you now?"

"At my house, trying to sleep and keep a barrier up at the same time. Have you ever tried that? It's not easy, I can tell you that. I'm bringing some friends with me when I come home around nine, seeing as they are involved with this too, and will probably be arrested along with me if I stay."

"Who all is with you?"

"Uhh, three cats that I'm taking care of—they'll be taken to the testing facility if I let them stay here, I couldn't let them go through that..."

"Of course."

"My former DPS partner, Rika. He told me that he's friends with you. Then there's Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Gaara."

"Wait... the brat and his friends are back? How many are there?"

"Just those four. I hope you kept my house clean Kyuubi, especially with all those rats that I heard are running around there." Shadow said, shuddering. He has a huge fear of rats, and besides puppy eyes, its one of the only ways to bring him down quickly. There was silence on the other line. "Kyuubi... that house had better be spottless, hell, I should be able to see my face in it when I get there." more silence... "And there had better not be rats."

Shadow heard an exclamation of, "Cyrus! Call the exterminator! And a hell of a lot of maids! ASAP!" in the background and sighed. Then Kyuubi spoke to him again. "Ok, it'll be clean bythetimeyougetherebye!" and the line clicked off. Snapping his phone closed, Shadow tuned the yelling from out side out, and fell back asleep, still concentrating on keeping the barrier up.

---That morning---

"Ugh... I'm going to slaughter Kyuubi for yelling in my ear like that." Shadow groaned. He poured some caffeine shots into his coffee cup and took a huge swig of it. Rika stared at him with huge eyes. "What? I can't jump in a lake like I could three thousand years ago, so I settle for an extra strong shot of caffeine."

"No, its not that. Look behind you." the brunette said in a shaky voice. Shadow did as he was told and nearly dropped his coffee cup at the sight.

"Ah hell. I'm running low on chakra so I'm slowly transforming back into my demon form. That's not a good thing." he muttered, stuffing his tail in his pants. "Go wake the others. We need to get out of here while we still can." Rika sighed and stood up, walking into the six-year-old's room. "And you may have to kick Naruto to get him up!" the fox called after him. No sooner did he do so an exclamation of:

"EHHH!! WHAT THE FUCK!!" then a muffled series of thumps. As well as several other swears and curses. Then, and screech of, "Child abuser!"

"Technically Naruto, you're not a child!" Shadow called.

"Shut up fox!" Naruto snapped as he came into the kitchen, hefting a bag onto his shoulder. Rika had told them the fox's plan, and the six-year-olds had decided to pack what they though needed to be save. Such as old and very very expensive ceramic pots and vases that were owned by Shadow's mother, and of course clothes and any other valuables.

The others soon followed, carrying bags on their shoulders. Naruto yelped as ears appeared on Shadow's head and stepped back a little. The fox ignored the blond and gathered the last of his chakra into his claws, slashing the air and creating a portal to the demon relm. Normaly, he would take them through a doorway, but said doorway was two outside, and there was no way they could sneak out there with out getting caught by the persistant feds. They stepped through the portal, Shadow going last to make sure that the cats made it through too, before jumping through the shrinking portal himself.

Keeping it open that long zapped the last of Shadow's chakra, forcing him to transform into his fox form, at the normal size, about as big as a rhino. Shaking himself, the fox led the way down the hill and to the Kitsune Village.

"Oh, and things here are a bit old fashioned."

"How old fashioned?" Gaara asked. He had never been to the demon relm, so this was new to him.

"Uhh, Tsunade and elders old fashioned. We have electricity, but we don't use cars of any other form of transportation, other than cart, walking, and jumping from roof to roof. And I'm going to have to ask Kyuu to change you and Rika into demons so you can fit in better. Humans aren't that common here." the fox replied, still walking.

"Wait, wait. You're going to turn me into a demon?"

"Yeah, which ever one fits you best. Gaara's will problay be a raccon-dog like Shukaku. Your's Rika might be something stupid like a... er... platypus demon or a trout or something."

"Very funny." the brunette grumbled. Shadow grinned and nearly made everyone jump out of their skin by yelling:

"Oi! Rowan! Open the gates will you?!" a pale blonde head poked over the wall. It had lion ears on top, and was obviously a girl.

"'Kay!" the gates swung open, and a lion demon appeared infront of them with a brunette dragon demon next to her. The brunette had her hair done up in a tight braid, and her gray-blue eyes shone with mirth. The lion demon's were a darkish green, and they were filled with energy and something else. The lion was about a hand taller than the brunette, who was about five ft. four inches, and seemed to enjoy leaning on the brunette.

"Hey Rowan, hey Alex." they nodded and stepped aside. When the kitsune was past them, they turned to walk next to him, saying something every now and then. The brunette (me!) smirked and said, in an unusualy deep voice for a girl, to Rowan:

"Hey Rowan... that salamander over there stole that Mountain Dew that you had earlier." the pale blonde, named as Rowan, sprinted over to the salamander demon and started screaming something about stealing the 'Sacred Mountain Dew,' or something. Everyone minus Shadow and Alex ogled at the lion demon. "Don't worry. She's always like that. I think she has some sort of disorder... either that or she's not all there." the dragon demon explained with a laugh. Her dark brown dragon tail twitched as the salamander started to argue with Rowan, and she sighed. "Oh here we go." she grunted. Alex sauntered over to the lion demon, and whispered something to her... "Hey, did you notice that Gaara is... right... there?" she said, pointing at the red head.

Rowan squealed and pelted over to the oblivious six-year-old, capturing him in a rib popping hug, draining all the color from his face. "It really is you!!" she exclaimed. In the human world, the humans had taken history and twisted it, making a humorous anime based on Naruto's life, minus Shadow and several other demons and people. Things had been changed, such as Gaara remaining in Suna, but that didn't meen that he did't have fans. Rowan in particular was a Gaara obsesser, lusting after the red head and his cool demenor, and she would attack anyone that denied the fact that Gaara was the best.

"He can't breathe you know." Alex said, a twinkle in her gray-blue eyes. Poor Gaara's feet were dangling a good three feet and some odd inches off the ground, and he face was starting to turn blue. He was reaching desparetly—and patheticly—to someone, anyone, who would rescue him from the clingy fangirl. Sasuke grabbed his hand and started to wrench Gaara from Rowan's iron grasp.

"What did you mean by 'it's really you?'" Naruto asked. The loin demon turned to the blond, her own short, pale blonde and brown hair shining as the sun hit it.

"In the human world, your lives have been taken and twisted to make an anime based on events that have been key in your life." she explained. She was about to say something else, but a blur of white skidded past her, and leaped at Alex, making her fall to the ground. The blur turned out to be a white panther with hazy gray-blue eyes that were a little less bright than Alex's.

"Uh, hi Amanda." she grunted. Pushing the panther off her, she stood up, stretching her wings to make sure that nothing was broken. "Nice entrance by the way."

"Thanks... So, who are your friends."

"You should recognize them." no one noticed the huge blush starting to creep onto Sasuke's face at the size of the unusualy colored panther. Said white panther transformed into her human form—a light blond that was about five inches shorter than Alex—the shortest of the three—and stared at the six year olds. "Oh, Shadow. Kakashi's back from the dead too. I had Kyuu turn him into a demon for you." the brunette pointed out randomly.

Shadow nodded and signaled with his tail for the three girls to stand at attention. They stiffened and stood as straight as one could, their eyes emotionless. "I want you to take Gaara and Rika to Kyuubi too. They need to be changed into demons." they nodded and lead the two mentioned away.

"What about me, Shadow-kun?" Hinata asked shyly.

"Your hanyou blood is still locked away. You just need to find a way to _unlock_ it." the fox replied with a smirk. He started walking in the direction of his home, praying that all the rats and dirt was gone by now—especialy concidering they were two hours early.

_**There's chappie 5. And Alex is not my real name, its just what everyone calls me. And Rowan and Amanda are two of my friends from school, they asked to be in this fic. Review! Ja!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Shadow of the Future

Rowan, Amanda, and I are only going to appear briefly now and then, we won't play a big part in this story. And I'm telling it from my POV because it feels awkward talking about my self in 3rd person. I just wanted to clear that up for you. And some more things about Shadow may be revealed in this chappie. And this story may or may not become a minor FMA cross over, so don't bitch at me for that.

I own nothing 'cept the Ocs and this plot, though partial credit goes to Rowan and Amanda.

Chapter 6

Well, you could say that Shadow was satisfied with the condition of his house when he arrived there with the others, or you could say that he wasn't. For the sake of my own health, I'll say that he was satisfied or he'll rip me to shreds if I told you the truth. Basically, he was scared shi... urk!

"Shut up!" screamed the black fox, trying to strangle me. He had tackled me, and was shaking me violently, repeatedly banging my head against the floor.

"Alright, alright! Let go! I can't breathe." he complied and, growling the whole time, clambered off me.

There are some things about that damn fox that he wouldn't want others to know, especially considering that he is basically my equal. But the things that I won't get myself slaughtered for, I'll gladly tell you.

Shadow was a General in the Marines for the Civil War and is still one in the Iraq War, but he's on leave for a while. He has earned the medal of honor as well as many other medals that show off his experience. And when he's in his fox form he only has three legs, but uses either genjutsu or automail with a fur piece over it to hide that fact. When in his human form, he is missing his left leg, which he has to use auto mail for with a skin piece over it as well as always wearing pants.

"Alright that's enough." Shadow said, dragging me by my dragon tail out the door, Rowan and Amanda following, sweat drops on the back of their heads.

(---Normal POV---)

Shadow walked back in with a glare plastered on his face after taking care of Alex and the others. Thankfully, Naruto and the others didn't know about his absence of a leg, and that the dragon demon wasn't actually talking.

"Now that they're taken care of, you can explore the house or what ever. I need to get something taken care of else where." the black fox said. Gathering up some of the chakra that had managed to build up in the past hour, he slashed the air and disappeared into the portal that he had made.

He landed heavily outside a white farm house that was all by its lonesome on a hill, and his ears flicked at the sound of arguing.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT YOU MINIATURE SIZED HAG!"

"YOU'RE SHORTER THAN YOUR TEMPER!"

"YOU'RE SO SHORT YOU'RE TWO DIMENTIANAL!"

"Well well well, if it isn't Edward Elric and Al." he muttered to himself. "He must be here for a tune up too." _'Or worse'_

He winced when an overly muscular man with... pink sparkles?... dancing around him interrupted their arguing. Before he could go very far, a wrench came flying through the air and slammed right into Ed's head, making him grunt in pain and fall onto the ground, a huge bump forming on his forehead.

The blond sat up and glared at the person who caused the wrench to hit him. "GREAT! I BUY YOU A WRENCH AND YOU TRY AND KILL ME WITH IT!" he yelled.

"Well apparently you're trying to kill yourself! What have you been up to!" Winry screamed back. Shadow just sat in the shade of a tree and watched with mild amusement. Ed, of course, had no answer, neither did Al. Winry just sighed and walked back inside, coming down stairs and out the front door. She was the first one to notice Shadow over to the side.

"Shadow! What are you doing here?" she called. The black fox chuckled to himself and padded over to her.

"I'm here to get my leg adjusted. I got in a big fight with that bastard snake Orochi and I think a screw or something fell out or was loosened." he explained.

"Alright." she lead Shadow, Ed, and Armstrong inside and asked Shadow to remove the fake fur that concealed his automail. He peeled it back and Winry winced at the damage that was dealt to the steel and metal. "You call that a missing screw! It's almost falling apart! And... is that a bullet hole?" she yelled. "What did you go through for that to happen."

"Well... I don't really know. It's only been giving me trouble lately." the black fox explained. "Of course, its not as bad as shorty and tin man over there." he continued with a smirk, knowing that he would get Ed riled up.

"Why you..." he started to say, but Armstrong to scold Shadow—who tried to back up as far as he could from the scary man—about insulting others and stating the obvious when it was inappropriate. 

_'He's worse than Gai.' _he thought with an involuntary shudder. _'Time to bring in my military authority.'_

He cleared his throat and barked: "Atten' Hut!" and Armstrong stood at attention. "That's better. Now, About Face!" and the muscular man turned. "Forward March!" and Armstrong marched out the door and down the path.

"How did you do that?" Al asked. "We've been trying to get rid of him for hours."

"I've been a General in the Marines for several centuries. Authority kind of comes with the package. YIKE!" he yelped as Winry took the automail leg from it's socket. "Give me a warning next time!" he snapped at the blond woman, tears on the edge of his eyes. Ed snickered at the fox's pain, but shrank down to a chibi when Shadow turned on him and glared, a wall of flames springing up behind him.


End file.
